Test: Mahajanapadas & Rise of Magadh - UPSC

• The Magadha kingdom first used elephants in wars.
• The rulers of Magadha employed elephants as a weapon of large-scale destruction.
• Magadha was an ancient Indian kingdom in southern Bihar.
• Magadha was counted as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas.
• Magadha also played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism.

Additional Information

The kingdom of the Magadha covers the modern districts of:

• Patna
• Jehanabad
• Nalanda
• Aurangabad
• Arwal
• Nawada
• Gaya.

• The capital of Kashi (Mahajanapada) was Varanasi.
• This city got its name from rivers Varuna and Asi as cited in the Matsya Purana.
• Kingdoms that rose to fame from the 6th Century BC onward were called Mahajanapdas.
• The Mahajanapadas signify the tribes that came together to form different groups and later gave rise to a permanent area of settlements called ‘states’ or ‘Janapadas.’

Important Points

• The Mahajanapads were the 16 kingdoms that existed between the 6th-4th century BCE in Northern ancient India.
• SURASENA
  • The Surasena Mahajanapada corresponds roughly to today's Brij region of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
  • It had Madhura or Mathura as its capital.
  • Avantiputra was the king of Surasena and was a chief disciple of Buddha. He played a significant role in spreading Buddhism.
  • The allied tribes of Yadavas like the Andhakas, the Vrishnis, etc. formed a 'sangha' and Lord Krishna was described as the 'sangha-mukhya'.
  • Megasthenes also described Mathura as the center of Krishna worship.
  • The kingdom was later annexed into the Magadha empire.

Additional Information

• Vajji:
  • The kingdom included the Mithila region of Northern Bihar and Vaishali was the capital.
  • It was one of the principal Mahajanapadas of ancient India and was included both in the Buddhist text 'Anguttara Nikaya' and Jaina text 'Bhagvati Sutra'.
  • The kingdom derives its name from one of its ruling clan called 'Vrjis'.
• Vatsa:
  • The Vatsa or Vamsa kingdom corresponds to today's Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
  • The kingdom had Kausambi as its capital.
  • Udayana was a powerful ruler of the kingdom who later became the follower of Buddha and his mother Queen Mrigavati was one of the earliest known female rulers of India.
• Kashi:
  • The kingdom was the most powerful before Buddha and Varanasi was its capital.
  • King Brihadratha conquered Kosala but later the Kosala king Kansa incorporated Kashi into his kingdom during the Buddha's time.
• The other Mahajanapadas were - Anga, Assaka, Avanti, Chedi, Gandhara, Kamboja, Kosala, Kuru, Magadha, Malla, Matsya, and Panchala. 

• Ajatashatru was a king of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East India.
• He was the son of King Bimbisara and was a contemporary of both Mahavira and Gautama Buddha.
• He forcefully took over the kingdom of Magadha from his father and imprisoned him.
• Ajatasattu wanted to attack the Vajjis, he sent his minister named Vassakara to the Buddha to get his advice on the matter.
• Ajatashatru sent his chief minister Vassakara to infiltrate the Vajji confederacy and within three years he had managed to split the Vajjis and also demolished the alters in Vaishali.

Additional Information

• Magadha Empire ruled from 684 B.C - 320 B.C in India.
• There were three dynasties who ruled the Magadhan Empire from 544 BC to 322 BC.
  • The first one was the Haryanaka dynasty (544 BC to 412 BC).
  • The second one was the Shisunaga dynasty (412 BC to 344 BC).
  • The third one was the Nanda dynasty (344 BC-322 BC). 
• The Haryanka Dynasty-
  • The most important and powerful ruler in this dynasty is- 
    • Bimbisara (558 BC – 491 BC)
    • Ajatasatru (492 BC – 460 BC)
    • Udayin (460 BC – 440 BC)

• Ashoka adopted Buddhism after observing the brutality of the Kalinga War.
• The Kalinga war was the most famous war fought between the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great and the State of Kalinga.
• Ashoka embraced Buddhism under the influence of a Buddhist monk, Upagupta.
• Kalinga war was a horrifying event as mentioned in the 13th Rock Edict of Ashoka.

Important Points

• Ashoka was the son of Bindusara. He was the governor of Taxila and Ujjain during his father’s reign. 
• Ashoka sat on the throne around 268 B.C after successfully defeating his brothers.
• Ashoka’s mother’s name was Subhadrangi. His wife’s name was Devi or Vedisa who was a princess of Ujjaini.

Additional Information

• Ujjain was known as Avantika in ancient times.

Key Points

• Ujjain was mentioned in as Avantika in mahajanpad era.
• Avantika was one of the sixteen Mahajanpads of ancient India.
• Chand-Pradyot was the most popular ruler of Avantika mahajanpada.
• Avantika had two capitals -
  • North Avantika – Ujjain.
  • South Avantika – Mahishmati (Maheshwar).

Additional Information

• Bhopal was founded in the 11th century by Parmara King Bhoja.
  • It was originally named Bhojpal.
• Gwalior was formally named Gopalkash in the Mahabharata era.
• Varanasi is a city in Uttar Pradesh.
  • Kashi was the name of Varanasi in the Mahajanpada era.

Matsya Kingdom

• It was located in central India near Kuru.
• It was founded by Matsya Dwaita, son of Uparachira Vasu.
• Uparachira’s other sons were Brihadratha (founded Maghada), Mavella, Yadu, Manivahana, and Rajanya.
• The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagari (present-day Bairat in the Jaipur district of Rajasthan).

Additional Information

• Kaushambi is the capital of the Vatsa kingdom.
• Indraprastha is the capital of the Kuru kingdom.
• Mathura is the capital of the Sursena kingdom.

Mahajanapadas

• As the rulers of the Mahajanapadas were building huge forts, maintaining big armies, they needed more resources. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• And they needed officials to collect these. So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the Raja of the Janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes.
• Taxes on crops were the most important.
• This was because agriculture was the main occupation at that time.
• Usually, the tax was fixed at 1/6th of what was produced. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• This was known as bhaga or a share.
• There were taxes on craftspersons as well.  Hence, statement 4 is correct.
• These could have been in the form of labor.
• For example, a weaver or a smith may have had to work for a day every month for the king.
• Herders were also expected to pay taxes in the form of animals and animal products. Hence, statement 3 is Not correct.
• There were also taxes on goods that were bought and sold, through trade.
• And hunters and gatherers also had to provide forest produce to the raja.

• Out of 16 Mahajanapadas during Mahajanapada Period 8 were present in Modern Uttar Pradesh.
• They were:

1. Malla (Districts of Deoria, Basti, Gorakhpur, and Siddharthnagar) - Capital was Kushinara and Pawa
2. Kashi (Districts of Varanasi) - Capital was Varanasi
3. koshala (Districts of Faizabad, Gonda, Bahraich) - Capital was North Kosal/South Kosal / Ayodhya
4. Vatsa (Districts of Allahabad & Mirzapur) - Capital was Kaushambi
5. Chedi ( Bundelkhand area) - Capital was Shaktimati
6. Panchala (Ruhelkhand, western UP) - Capital was Ahichhatra & Kampilya
7. Shurasena (Brajmandal) - Capital was Mathura
8. Kuru - Meerut and Southeastern Haryana, Capital -  Indraprastha

Additional Information

• There were two types of states in the Mahajanapada period - Monarchical and Republican states
• Monarchical States -  Anga, Magadha, Kashi, Koshala, Vatsa, Chedi, Shursena, Avanti, Gandhara
• Republican States - Vajji, Malla, Kuru, Panchal, Kamboja, Shakya etc. 

• The Kingdom of Surasena was an ancient Indian region corresponding to the present-day Braj region in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Capital of Surasena was Mathura.
• Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, Surasena states that it was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas.

The sixteen Mahajanapadas are as follows:

The correct answer is 3 only.
Key Points

• The second urbanization started in the 6th century BC in the Indian subcontinent. Hence, Statement 3 is incorrect.
• It is an era associated with early states, cities, the growing use of iron, the development of coinage, etc.
• It also witnessed the growth of diverse systems of thought, including Buddhism and Jainism.
• The centre of economic and political activity shifted from northwest to Eastern UP and Bihar that is the Ganga basin. 
• The territorial States become very large with the use of better tools and weapons and came to be known as Mahajanapadas.
• The small kingdoms submitted to the stronger ruler or gradually got eliminated.
• While most Mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as Ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas. Hence, Statement 1 & 2 is correct.
• Both Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such Ganas.
• In some instances, as in the case of the Vajji sangha, the rajas probably controlled resources such as land collectively.
• Each Mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified.
• Maintaining these fortified cities as well as providing for incipient armies and bureaucracies required resources.

• The Magadha Empire encompasses the rule of three dynasties over time – the Haryanka Dynasty, the Shishunaga Dynasty, and the Nanda Dynasty.
• The timeline of the Magadha Empire is estimated to be from 684 BCE to 320 BCE.

Bimbisara (558-491 BC)

• Belonged to the Haryanaka dynasty was the first ruler of Magadha (543-492 BC) Mahajanpadas in the sixth century BC. 
• He founded the state of Magadha by bringing together a number of tribes and territories.
• He expanded their empire by establishing matrimonial relations.
• He married Mahakoshla, sister of Koshal Naresh Prasenjit, Chellana, daughter of Chetak of Vaishali, and Princess Kshema of Madra Desh (modern Punjab).
• Aajatshatru was the son of Bimbisara.

Additional Information

• The total 16 Mahajanapadas are - Kashi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Machcha, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja.

• Vajji Mahajanapada was related to both Mahavir Swami and Gautama Buddha.
• Mahavir Swami was born in Kundagram near Vaishali in 599 BC.
• Vaishali was the capital of "Vajji Mahajanapada".
• Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini near Kapilavastu around 563 BC.
• Gautama Buddha's father was the head of Shakyagan and the Shakya republic was one of the 8 republics of Vajji republic.
• Vajji Mahajanapada was one of the 16 Mahajanapadas of ancient India, whose capital was "Vaishali".
• The Vajji was a union of 8 republics. In which the capital of Lichhavi was Vaishali, Mithila of Videha, and Kundagram.
• Magadha was one of the most powerful Mahajanapados whose capital was "Giribraj".

Magadha Empire

• The Magadha Empire ruled from 684 B.C - 320 B.C in India.
• The reference of the Magadha Empire is found in the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
• There were three dynasties who ruled the Magadha empire from 544 BC to 322 BC.
• The first one was Haryanka dynasty (544 BC to 412 BC), the second was Shisunaga Dynasty (412 BC to 344 BC) and the other one was Nanda dynasty (344 BC-322 BC).
• Bimbisara came from the Haryanka dynasty, ruled for 52 years from 544 B.C. to 492 B.C.
• Bimbisara was imprisoned by his son Ajatshatru who ruled Magadha empire from 492- 460 B.C. He murdered his father Bimbisara.
• Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Maurya dynasty and ruled from 298 BC to 272 BC. He is also referred to as Amitraghata (amitra-enemy, ghata-slayer) in Sanskrit Literature. Strabo has named him Amitrochates or Allitrochades which are a greek version of the name Amitraghata. He had two sons Sumana & Ashoka. Ashoka later succeeded him, after his death.
• Ashoka was the son of Bindusara. He was governor of Taxila and Ujjain during his father’s reign. Ashoka sat on the throne around 268 B.C after successfully defeating his brothers. Hence option 3 is correct.

• King Porus used elephants against Alexander in the battle of hydaspas.
• Chandragupta Maurya did use elephants in his conquest of the whole of India. So, option 2 is correct.
• Elephants were part of Ashoka's army.

Punch marked coins

• It is a type of early coinage in India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC.
• The first coins in India may have been minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanpadas of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
• The coins of this period were punch-marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas, or Pana.
• Several of these coins had a similar symbol. For example, Saurashtra had a humped bull Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika, others like Magadha had several symbols.
• Punched Marked coins were made of silver, had a standard weight but were irregular in shape.
• The irregular shape was made by cutting up silver bars and then making the correct weight by cutting the edges of the coin.
• These coins lack any inscriptions written in contemporary languages and were always struck in silver.
• These unique characters make early Indian coins very different from their contemporaries in Greece.
• Many historians believe that the concept of coinage was introduced by the Greeks in India. But unlike Indian punch-marked coins, Greek coins had inscriptions that were round in shape, were stamped on both sides, and were minted using silver, electrum, and gold too.
• Now historians are certain that the concept of coinage was invented in India independent of foreign influence which imparted unique characteristics to these coins.
• These coins are mentioned in Manu, Panini, and Buddhist Jataka stories and lasted three centuries longer in the south than in the north.
• After the fall of the Maurya Empire and the increased influence of the Indo-Greeks,punch-marked coins were replaced by cast die-struck coins as visible in the Post-Mauryan period.

• Vaishali was the capital of Vajji Mahajanapada.
• The kingdom was situated in Bihar to the north of the river Ganga.
• It covered the districts of Vaishali and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

Additional Information

• About 2500 years ago, some janapadas became more important than others, and were known as mahajanapadas.
• Forts were built by the rulers of the mahajanapadas because people were afraid of attacks from other kings and needed protection.
• It is also likely that some rulers wanted to show how rich and powerful they were by building really large, tall and impressive walls around their cities.
• The rulers also began maintaining armies and soldiers were paid regular salaries throughout the year. 
• As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were building huge forts and maintaining big armies, they needed more resources.

• So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes from the people to fulfill their needs.

Thus, we can conclude that both the statements (A) and (B) are true and (B) is the correct explanation of (A).

Some of the taxes collected by the rulers of Mahajanapadas were:

• Taxes on crops
• Taxes on crafts persons 
• Taxes from herders
• Taxes on goods that were sold and bought
• Taxes from hunter gatherers

• Taxila is the centre of education with world-famous teachers.
• It was the capital of Gandhar.
• Gandhar was a mahajanpada.
• Taxila was situated on the eastern shore of the Indus river- the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia.
• Mahajanpadas were the sixteen kingdoms that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE.
• Most mahajanpadas had a capital city, many of which were fortified.
• These signify the tribes that came together to form different groups and later gave rise to a permanent area of settlements called 'janapadas'.

 Thus, we can say that Taxila was the capital of Gandhar and the centre of education.

• There were two kinds of state formations during the Mahajanpad period -  the monarchical kingdoms and the non-monarchical polities called the gana-sanghas (the republics).
• Most of the monarchical mahajanapadas were concentrated in the fertile Ganga plains.
• In contrast, the gana-sanghas lay around their periphery, in the Himalayan foothills, or in north-western India, Punjab and Sindh or central and western India.
• Their location suggests that the gana-sanghas probably pre-dated the kingdoms, since the low-lying hills would have been easier to clear than the marshy jungles in the plains.
• It is also possible that they were established by individuals with a liberated mindset who moved from the plains up towards the hills to establish communities with more egalitarian traditions since they were not satisfied with the growing orthodoxy and the rigid caste system of the plains.
• In fact, teachers of the two most important heterodox sects came from these gana-sanghas: Mahavira, associated with Jainism, belonged to the Jantrika clan, a part of the Vrijji confederacy; and the Buddha, who was born in the Sakya clan.
• Historians have understood the gana-sanghas variously as republics or oligarchies.
• In the gana-sanghas, unlike the monarchical kingdoms, power was diffused, i.e., power was exercised collectively, by a group of people.
• The gana-sanghas had only two strata – the kshatriya rajakula, i.e., the ruling families, and the dasakarmakara, i.e., the slaves and labourers.
• Land was owned collectively by the clan, but was worked on by labourers and slaves, the dasa-karmakaras.
• It is also important to note that while kinship ties bound the clan together, the labouring class of the kamakaras were non-kin labour.
• In terms of governance, there was no single hereditary monarch, but instead a chief known as the ganapati, or ganaraja, or sanghamukhya.

Hence, we can conclude that among the given statements about the republics of Mahajanpad period, only statement (ii) is true.